The Touch Of A Healer
by LadyBadass
Summary: After Lana stays at Coates to heal Drake's burnt arm, Caine is desperate about getting the Healer on their side. When he makes Drake get her back, he start's developing feelings for the girl. The sick and twisted feelings coming from the sadistic psychopath quickly puts Lana in a compromised situation.
1. Pilot

THE TOUCH OF A HEALER

'Ok,' Diana said. 'Hold on to him. I'll be as quick as I can be.

Then nothing happened. At least Drake didn't feel his pain increasing. The pain was still there, hurting like a bitch, but he had expected the sawing to hurt, _a lot_.

Drake opened his eyes slightly noticing that everyone's attention was turned towards someone in the door. Slowly he turned his head, wincing from the pain.

At the door, there was a girl with long chestnut, brown hair. His sight was foggy from the pain, and he couldn't make out whom the mysterious girl was.

'Ah, Lana!' the voice Drake recognized as Caine's greeted. Who the hell was Lana? It sounded familiar, but he couldn't remember clearly, probably just someone whom he used to beat up at Coates.

It was uncomfortably quiet, except for her light footsteps against the tiles of the room. He figured by how the sound of her footsteps increased that she was walking in their direction.

Again he opened his eyes slightly to see the girl standing on his right side, next to his pathetic corpse of an arm. Lana made a grimace, which he figured was because of his disgusting looking arm. This sort of pissed him off, but the heavy weight of the elephant on his chest was still there, keeping him from tossing around.

'Do you think you can heal him?' Caine asked, his voice sounded quite hopeful. Of course! She was the healer that Sam had spoken about earlier. Had she really come back to heal him? Why?

'I think so… I don't know! But… I'll try,' the girl mumbled, slowly taking in a shaky breath.

Drake hadn't taken his eyes of the Healer since she started the slow process of healing him, until he felt a warm breath tingling his cheek.

He turned his head to glare at the idiot who was stupid enough to intrude his personal space, but before he was able to do so, his face was attacked by a huge amount of salvia.

Drake quickly yanked back –as far back that is possible, when you are being held down my telekinetic force-, staring at the dog in front of him in shock.

'Patrick, come here,' Lana said and the dog disappeared out of his sight.

Drake turned his head around, facing the ceiling of the room. That is how he spent his next couple of hours through out the cold evening, the pain slowly dissolving.

Many hours later he winced, then relaxed as he felt the heavy weight of Caine's power ware off. The Caine appeared, hovering over him upside down. A huge grin spread across Fearless Leaders face, barely covering the exhaustion that was clearly visible in his eyes.

'Seems like Drake-man won't lose his arm after all, then!' he said cheerfully, patting both of Drake's cheeks teasingly, before disappearing out of sight again, just in time to avoid losing his fingers to Drake's teeth.

He kept staring at the ceiling, when noticing that he could feel Lana's hands on his arms. Her fingers were cold, sending chills up and down his spine.

The room was cold, and filled an awkward silence. No one fighting, no snarky comments from Diana, no one being ordered around by Caine. Everyone was just waiting. Waiting to see if Lana was actually able to heal him. Waiting to see if God would bless them all by killing their favorite psychopath slowly and painfully.

Then he felt Lana's hands let go of his arm and he stopped the staring contest with the roof to turn his head towards the door and see her standing there with her mutt and Caine.

Their voices were hushed, but thanks to the silence that filled the room, everyone could hear. That included Drake.

'Thank you,' Caine said giving her one of his manipulative charming smiles. He sounded utterly thankful as he spoke to her. 'You will be extremely useful, thank you for sta-'

'I'm not staying,' she interrupted him. She sounded exhausted, but at the same time determined. She had made up her mind and no one could change her opinion.

'It's just… Jees, you guys were going to _saw_ his arm off! I can't stand the thought of him being in so much pain, when I could have helped…' she mumbled. Her voice mostly pitied, but it was simple to hear the doubt and regret in her voice. She was obviously wondering if she had done the right thing, by healing him.

He heard the door open, then close quickly afterword's. Then complete silence. He closed his eyes letting the darkness enter his mind.


	2. Monstrous Reality

**Thanks to Goneismyfave1 and gonefaan for reviewing on my story. You made my day bigtime, seriously! If anyone else read my story as well, I really appreciate it if you review. Even if it is just a short comment such as 'good story', it still makes me die of happiness. Not literally (of course), but I'm pretty close to it anyway.**

**This is not a one-shot, I'll keep on writing, but I honestly have no idea were the story is going, I guess only time will tell? That was really cliché, haha. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!**

**And if any of you like listening to music while reading, I usually listen to Gin Wigmore while writing, most of her songs fit really well to the story!**

THE TOUCH OF A HEALER

'_Good shot, Sam,' Edilio said._

_ 'I was aiming at his head,' Sam said, gritting his teeth through the pain. _

_ Lana knelt beside Sam and laid her hands on the bloody mess of his knee. As they spoke about how Sam was actually intending on killing this Drake person, Lana couldn't help but feel the slightest bit of fury steaming inside of her._

_ Sure, Drake did seem like a psychopath and all, but he's just fourteen! _No one_ deserves the pain he must be in at the moment. Not even some guy whose head is messed up. And the fact that Sam had the bloodthirsty thoughts of _killing_ someone, made her reconsider her loyalty to the kids of Perdido Beach._

_ Sam fainted at the spot, from the pain in his knee, just as Lana finished healing the bullet wound that Drake had caused. Edilio caught him before he collapsed onto the ground and with the help of some other kid, they dragged him away. They walked along a road that lead away from the school, along with a huge crowd of other kids whose hands had previously been encased in concrete blocks. Her bet was that they were all running off to Perdido Beach._

_ She was about to follow the swarm when a scream stopped her in her tracks. It came from inside the gigantic school building and it sent a shiver up and down her spine. Although she didn't recognize the scream, she knew way to well who it belonged to. Another identical scream tore through the silence of the school grounds as she walked towards the main entrance of the building, Patrick tagging along. _

_ The screams repeated themselves, over and over, and every time he wasn't screaming someone else were yelling orders. She was walking through the empty hallways, following the sounds as a dark skinned boy passed her in a quick pace, and carrying towels in his hands. The boy didn't even send a second glance her way as he tore a door open, entered through it and slammed it shut behind him._

_ Lana stopped in front of the door, hesitating with her hand resting on the handle. Finally opening the door she gasped being caught off guard to the horror show happening right in front of her._

Lana shuttered at her memories from the previous event.

After Lana had healed Drakes roasted arm, she had decided to accompany Sam and the others down at Perdido Beach. _After _throwing up, of course.

She honestly wasn't sure what was worse, meeting the Darkness, or having to be in that room for so many hours, healing him.

Considering the Coates kids being strangers, and enemies, Lana didn't want to break down and puke in front of them. She wanted -she needed- them to have a first impression of her were she was represented as the strong girl she had been since the FAYZ started.

Still, she felt like throwing up every time she remembered the scene. The once overly tough boy was just lying there, crying, and begging the others to kill him. The sight of his naked bones where his right arm used to be, his skin partly melted off. And that smell… That strong scent of his burned flesh was the worst of it all. It was such an _intense_ smell; she could almost taste him in her mouth. She knew very well that she would never get the barbaric memory out of her head.

Lana shook her head trying to clear it for the terrifying memories. Like her mind wasn't already filled with enough of those.

She was sitting out on the porch of Elwood's house with a warm Diet Coke in the middle of the night. Elwood had brought her there after she had finished healing Cookie.

Cookie and Drake were among the many people Lana had healed that same day. After Elwood brought her to his house she had crashed at the sofa, sleeping through the whole day and most of the night.

She sipped her Diet Coke, glad that she had finally gotten her appetite back. It had disappeared as soon as the smell of human flesh entered her nostrils and had appeared again after she woke up from her long sleep.

Her Golden Labrador was sitting on the ground next to her, his head resting in her lap as she scratched him behind the ears. Lana sighed happily as she lent her head back to relax. She was _so_ thankful for Patrick. He had stuck by her side through the hell that she had been through, that _they_ had been through. He was a loyal ally. He was a loyal friend, her _only_ friend.

His head tilted over in the direction of the road as a car turned onto their street, passing the house they were sitting by in a slow pace.

'Some kind of patrol,' Lana said to Patrick.

She stayed a while longer on the porch before heading back inside as she heard a knock on the door. Lana walked slowly towards the door, not sure who would visit her this early in the morning.

She had decided to ignore the person outside, she had healed enough people for a lifetime, and she just wanted to be left alone for now. Sadly she was exposed when she heard another knock and Patrick started barking.

As she skeptically made her way towards the door, she passed by the kitchen. Hesitantly she picked up the chef knife, instincts taking over. _Just in case_, she thought. After all, she had noticed eight-year-olds baring baseball bats.

The visitor knocked repeatedly many times, and then started ringing the doorbell hysterically.

'Well someone's impatient…' she muttered as she ripped the door open, grumpy about being visited at this time of the night. She was about to glare at the person in front of her, when her hazel eyes met his stormy grey ones and she froze at the place staring in shock.

'A good thing I healed your arm, huh? Otherwise you wouldn't be able to multitask by ringing the bell _and_ knocking at the same time!' She said forcing a half smile onto her face, not realizing that the boy in front of her was not a friend, but a homicidal enemy.

**If you liked the story/disliked the story, please review! Tell me what you want me to improve on, give requests on what you want to happen!**


	3. Breaking The Ice

**Thanks to Goneismyfave1 for reviewing again, love you SO much! **

**Today was my first day back at school after the holidays. I am a very unfocused person at school, but my New Years Resolution is to work hard and get better grades. We get mid term grades in two weeks, and the next to weeks will contain of tests, presentations and hard work. This means I won't have time to publish chapters as frequently as I have been doing, but I will still post weekly and I bet a new chapter will be up within the end of this week. Can't promise anything though…**

**This chapter is a bit longer then the other two. I'm just experimenting a bit, but I think I'll stick with the longer ones, but again; I can't promise anything. You guys tell me what you think!**

**Hope you enjoy :)**

THE TOUCH OF A HEALER

_Drake awoke from his actual peaceful sleep, late in the evening to Diana's face up in his own. He was about to spit in her face when she moved away._

_ 'Caine want's to speak with you,' Diana said, turning on her heel and exiting the room. Drake got up and followed. There wasn't a question if he would follow or not. Caine pushed him around like a dog, and Drake obeyed as always. He hated it, but soon enough Caine would get a taste of his own medicine. _

_ He rubbed his sore back, as he kept walking. Why the hell had he been sleeping on that table!? Oh, that's right… The memories hit him like bullets and for a second the intense pain was back in his right arm._

_ 'I see you finally woke up, Drake,' Caine said with a smirk as Diana entered the principals office, Drake right behind. _

_He gestured his hand towards the chair on the other side of the principal's desk. That chair had literally belonged to Drake back in the days when the adults were still there. He and principal Grace would have daily chats about how dismemberment of animals does not count as a hobby._

_Drake sat down in the chair in a very inelegant Drake-like way. His legs were on the desk in front of him and his hands were cupping the back of his head._

'_Drake,' Caine started in a serious tone and leaned forward his elbows on the table, his head resting in his head. He looked exhausted. Drake guessed he hadn't been resting since using his powers so much on him earlier that same day. 'Lana went back to Perdido Beach.'_

'_So?' Drake asked with a simple shrug._

'So_,' Caine continued with a frustrated look on his face. 'We need someone to get her back here.' Drake's confused face turned into his signature shark grin. 'Alive, Drake. We are not going to _make_ her stay with us, we are going to make her _want_ to.'_

'_I don't get what I have to do with this,' Drake mumbled under his breath. His murderous grin was gone and was replaced by a deep frown._

'_I want you to find her, get on her soft side. Befriend her-' Caine was briefly interrupted by Diana who had been silent until that moment._

'_Drake is getting a friend? I'd like to see that happen. Poor girl will end up committing suicide.' She said sending Drake a teasing smirk._

_Drake launched at her within seconds, happy that he still had two hands; it would make it a lot easier to strangle her. Unfortunately Caine was prepared and held him back, right before he was able to claw Diana's eyes out._

'_You _will_ befriend her. I don't want you to come back with any bad news. Got it?' He asked intimidatingly and held Drake away from Diana with his force field._

'_I don't get it! Sure Diana is a slutty bitch, so sure Lana wouldn't want to be her friend. But you are the charismatic one, Caine! You'd manipulate her right away, why can't you just flirt with her or something?' Drake glared at him, anger upon anger building up inside of him. _

_Caine glanced over at Diana, who was staring at him still smirking seductively. He blushed, staring at the ground. His embarrassment was amusing to both Diana and Drake. As they both shared a laugh, Drake was thrown backwards into one of the brick walls of the room. _

'_You'll go to town tonight, but if I were you, I'd probably clean up first, or what?' Caine said, a frown covering his face. At first, Drake was confused. Then he saw Diana sniggering from were she was standing. He remembered something she had said earlier, right before she was going to saw his arm off._

_Drake glanced down and noticed a stain in the crotch of his pants. It was his time to blush as he exited the room. _

_He heard Diana's laugh as he escaped his two allies, walking down the hallway. They could laugh now. Cause after all, he'd be the last one to laugh, after ripping Diana's head off, right in front of Caine, before he'd choke him to death._

Drake was sitting in the passenger seat of a SUV holding his gun, flicking the safety on and off. He was doing it partly out of habit, and partly because it freaked Panda out.

Panda was driving the car, slowly as always. His knuckles were griping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles had turned a very pail color. The dark rings under his eyes, were even darker now.

Even though Drake always enjoyed scaring other people, his joy had slightly disappeared after his little interference with Diana and Caine earlier that night.

After he had taken a long shower, he had woken Panda from his brief sleep. He honestly didn't get why Panda had to be his chauffeur. The only reason that he hadn't already crashed the car was because he never let the speedometer reach above 15 mph.

He let out a sigh of annoyance, making sure it was loud enough to stress Panda just a little bit more. They had been driving around for hours, trying to find Lana. Like she would _actually_ wander around town in the middle of the night.

While playing with his gun, Drake was leaned back in his seat, gazing out the window. When Lana appeared in his view, sitting at the terrace of a house with that ugly dog of hers, Drake was utterly surprised. It was around 2am in the morning, and she was still up. This made it a lot easier to find the house she was staying at.

'There she is,' he said sitting up straighter. 'Pull over there.' He ordered, pointing towards an available spot a block away from the house.

'Stay in the car,' Drake told him, not having to repeat himself. He saw from the corner of his eye Panda adjusting his seat so that it was lying flat and quickly falling asleep.

He rolled his eyes, pacing up the tiny road and finding his way to the front door. His gun was still in his hand as he knocked on the door, hoping there wouldn't be any problems.

As nobody answered the door, he repeated his knock. For a moment he thought that it was the next house on the street, but then he heard barking from the inside. She had been revealed and he waited very impatiently for another thirty second -which involved him banging on the door and the doorbell all at once-, before he heard someone gripping the handle on the other side of the door.

The door was ripped open by an angry Lana, and her whole body quickly tensed as she saw who was standing there.

She made some silly joke about how he should be thankful for her healing his arm. Her weak attempt at a laugh made him clench his fists, wanting to punch her teeth out, but he didn't. He hated Caine indescribably much, but he knew that he had to be somewhat loyal until he had enough power to finally take Caine down.

'Thanks for healing it,' he said, knowing that being thankful would be a good start to her letting her guard down. It didn't seem like Lana reacted to anything that he was saying, though. She was avoiding eye contact, staring intently at something else. Fear was covering her face, and as he followed her gaze, he noticed her staring at his gun.

Then Drake did the unimaginable. He lent down, and put the gun on the ground, carefully of course. On the inside he was furious at Caine for giving him such an idiotic task. On the outside he was cool, looking at her with a forced quarter of a smile trying to make it seem at least half way real.

Lana's tense shoulders sank half an inch as he put the gun down. She didn't trust him, it was written all over her face. Usually Drake didn't give a fuck about trust. As long as he was respected. As long as he was _feared_. Still, Caine's message had been clear. In this case, and this only, he would have to earn another persons trust. He sighed heavily.

'Can I come in?' Drake asked moving towards the door, like she had allowed him to enter, but Lana hadn't moved an inch. The door had barely been open in the first place; a gap that filled about half a foot, and the tiny space was blocked by her body.

'I don't think that is a good idea,' she answered. Her voice sounded different from what he could remember. Of course he had only briefly met on her twice were she barely said a word. Still this voice was different. She sounded stronger and more confident. Her whole aura was produced by confidence, but she also seemed very alert. She was totally aware of what Drake was able to do, and that made her distant. This would be harder then he thought.

'Can you come out, then?' he asked his voice had an annoyed tone to it. He hadn't meant for it to be heard in his voice, but there was a lot more irritation building up inside him. Although he'd try and fulfill Caine's orders, he might have to use a bit more force then what he was allowed.

'What do you want?' Lana said, more like snapped really. Apparently Drake wasn't the only one there having trouble controlling his anger. Still he was doing better then Lana, at least he was _trying_ to get friends! He chuckled at this, which caught Lana's attention. She raised her eyebrows, a frustrated look glued on to her face.

'What do you want?' she repeated the question. Her irritation was amusing to Drake; he couldn't say the same about her.

'I just want to talk,' he said casually with a simple shrug. She looked skeptically at him, before she moved. She didn't exit her house, or move out of the way to let him enter. Instead she reached her hand out to him, palm facing up. He stared at her pale hand with a puzzled look.

'I want the gun,' she said. He glanced down at the ground were the gun was still lying and was about to comment that it wasn't doing anyone any kind of harm by just lying there, untouched. Just like if she had read his mind, she shook her head and stretched her hand out further. 'No gun, no conversation. And trust me when I say that it doesn't actually matter to me what you choose.'

Drake stared at the girl before him, sizing her up, before looking her in the eyes. Lana held his gaze giving him a challenging look.

In the end he exhaled a low growl and bent down to pick it up, handing it over to her. She took it out of his hand, with a proud look on her face. Not one of those bitchy looks Diana would give him whenever Caine threw him into a wall. No, this one didn't say _I'm better than you, now fuck of_, more like _did I actually manage making a deal with the devil_?

She then stepped out of the house, her stupid mutt following in her tracks. He wagged his tail stupidly and looked up at Drake with a weird overjoyed expression. His attention was turned back to the bothered girl, who's face was slowly aggravating into an even more annoyed expression –if that was even possible. Her arms were crossed at her chest, her right hand held a tight hold of his gun. She raised her eyebrow as to tell him that she didn't feel like wasting her whole night on him.

'So,' he started, not sure what to say to get on her soft side. After all, she was the least easy going person he had met. With an exception of Diana, but she was a bitch –not that it was actually relevant in this case, but he always enjoyed pointing out general facts about his favorite whore-, Lana wasn't. The girl just had guts. She was smart to, knowing that trust wasn't the strongest factor in the FAYZ. He decided to just skip to the point, no lying, just some excluding of the truth. And he'd have to behave. 'We at Coates have –'

'You had probably dosed off from all the pain Sam caused you, but I made it pretty clear to your friend that I don't want anything to do with your stupid little plans,' she snapped. Maybe she didn't have guts? Maybe she simply was just stupid? But then she wouldn't see through them like she was doing.

'I just want you to know about your options,' He started hesitantly as she looked at him with dubious eyes. 'You saw what Sam did to me, what he can do to _you_ if you disobey! Yes, Caine wants control, but he also wants to make sure that everyone is safe. He's making sure that we still have the chance of living in a community which is at least the slightest decent. Don't you want to be a part of making that happen?' Drake was impressed with himself. He had never been good at speeches. That was Caine's part of the job. This though, this was different. This wasn't a conversation with the principle, about getting new laptops; _this_ was something he cared for.

All his anger towards Sam, all his irritation from Lana was put into his thought's that were just spoken loudly. He glanced at Lana who actually seemed to care about what he was saying. He continued before she could say anything.

'Sam doesn't even _want_ to be a leader. He doesn't see the difference between leading the student council and leading three hundred kids in the right direction. If he stays on top, we're sooner or later going to end up dead, all of us. Unless your power can heal failure, of course.' His words were spoken with his own type of passion. His hatred, agony, irritation, frustration, it was all part of his little speech. But the words were a whole different story. It was partly Caine's thoughts, mixed with his own plus some truth that had been violently stretched, making their side seem like the good one.

He could tell that she was trying to process all of this. Brows were furrowed into a frown. Not one of her usual frowns, a frown that showed off that she was in deep thought. She stared deeply into his eyes, searching for something.

'It's a lot to take in, you know,' she said after many long minutes, breaking the silence of the empty streets. 'I don't know if I can make up my mind about this so quickly.'

'How about this; I'll bring you with me back to Coates today. You just have to be there for a day. You'll meet the people; you'll get to see what's going on there. Then you're free to leave, or stay. Up to you, he said insistently, ecstasy running through him. This really escalated quickly. She looked at him with doubt and he put on one of his seductive shark grins. 'I won't take no for an answer.'

**So there you go! What do you guys think? To long, to short, or just the right length? Remember that it is up to you guys! I'll right the length depending on your wishes.**

**I hope Lana and Drake stayed as much in character as possible. I always focus on that in other stories, and I was criticizing myself **_**a lot**_**, but Drake wasn't allowed by either Caine or me to hit Lana. Yet. **

**Anyways, hope you enjoyed and PLEASE REVIEW!**


	4. Possessed

**Thanks to Goneismyfave1 for reviewing again, love you SO much! And thank you Gaia Ladris-Soren for reviewing as well. To everyone that checkes out my story, I don't have anything agains reviews, and I think I have made that pretty clear now! :)**

**And just to make things clear, incase you haven't read the book in a while, Lana and Orc has never met, and I don't think she knows about him at all.**

**And since I'm such a mainstream person (not):**

**Disclaimer: GONE sadly belongs to Michael Grant, who I am not. If the series **_**did **_**belong to me though, Astrid would die a painful death, and Drake would get out of the dome and kill a couple of cops! #Swag!**

**Also some of the sentences in the chapter (and the previous ones for that matter) are sentences I've taken from the books and mixed together with my own, to make the characters a bit more reliable and for my own story to match better with the original one. Hope this doesn't bother anyone, if it does, just tell me and I'll stop doing it!**

**Hope you enjoy :)**

* * *

THE TOUCH OF A HEALER

Lana stumbled through the night. Back with the coyotes. A nightmare revisited. And now, adding to the misery, Drake and Howard stumbled along with her.

Lana felt like _such_ an idiot.

The fact that she had trusted Drake –was trust even the right word? –Was ridiculous. She hadn't really believed the whole make-the-dome-a-better-place part, coming from him. Still a part of her told her that Caine might not be as bad as Drake himself.

The psychopathic boy was running beside her -who would keep pushing her around, whenever she slowed her pace- and a bewildered Howard who was yelling the word orc repeatedly out into the dark.

Originally, Lana was the only one supposed to come with the coyotes -they still wanted her to '_teach coyotes_' what ever that meant. Though, as soon as they mentioned the Darkness to Drake, he decided he'd tag along. Howard she wasn't as sure about. He said he had to look for the orcs or something.

Her guess was that Howard had hit his head badly before their paths had crossed. She desperately hoped that there weren't _real_ orcs in the so-called FAYZ, but who knew? Last time she checked, teenage girls weren't supposed to heal people with only her hands as support.

At that moment, the one thing she wanted the most was to be Panda. He hadn't had to go along with them, because of his dislocated foot. She had offered healing it, but Drake wouldn't let her.

Lana maneuvered closer to Drake. She extended her hand out to him. Drake stared down at her hand; she was still holding his gun, but not with that tight grip she had used earlier. Her fingers had loosened like she was giving it to him. He snatched it out of her hand, before she had the chance to change her mind about it.

'Now shoot them,' she said insistently. Still walking next to him. She didn't usually think malevolently, but she desperately wanted Pack Leader dead.

'And why would I do that?' Drake asked her. Besides the dark night, she somehow knew about his shark grin plastered onto his confident features.

'Then we would get out of here,' she said with the maintaining urge to just run off, in the other directing. Getting away from the psychopath, the coyotes, the Darkness. She would be lost in the desert again, dehydrated and starving with only Patrick as her company. But greater then any misery, the dread of that mineshaft and what lay at the bottom of it.

'What if I don't want to get away?' he asked her. There was clear amusement in his voice. He had been so good at acting like a decent human being earlier, and know he was just being the awful jerk he really was.

'You are a _sadist_, for Christ sake! You'd shoot people _without_ anyone's permission! What's the problem about shooting some stupid coyotes that are trying to take charge of us?!' she hissed at him lowly, to avoid being overheard, although the coyotes could most likely hear them clearly with their great hearing capabilities developed for hunting.

'Don't try to play me,' Drake said tersely. 'Anyway, now I want to see this thing that has you so terrified.'

'No, you don't,' Lana promised.

'What is it?' Howard asked, nervous, almost as scared as Lana herself.

Lana had no answer to that.

Each step was harder then the one before, and several times Pack Leader nipped at her ankle to move her along. When he didn't, Drake did, waving his gun at her, threatening her with word and gesture and look.

She obviously should have given him the gun _after_ he promised to shoot the coyotes. Or she could have shot them herself? _No_, she thought shaking her head. She hadn't gotten there, not yet anyway.

Since she had been caught up in her own thoughts it didn't occur to her, that she was inside the mineshaft, before they had gone deep down.

As she heard Patrick's faint barking, realizing that her dog had left his masters side at the tope of the mine. She didn't blame him, though. If she had the possibility, she would have run off as well, a long time ago.

Howard was carrying a flashlight, which had earlier belonged to Hermit Jim. The tiny resource of light didn't help them much on their way down the pitch-black mine.

There was still the cold darkness surrounding them as they stalked down towards the monster that was expecting them.

Now even Drake seemed slightly leery, frightened of something he couldn't quite explain. He was asking questions, ever more agitated as they walked further into the icebox chill of the mine.

'Someone needs to tell me what we are going to see,' Drake insisted.

'I need to know what we are up to,' Drake said.

'How much further,' Drake said.

Lana force each breath. She kept reminding herself: breathe, breathe. Her breaths were heavy, more like gasps, really. Every breath she took, she would violently suck the air into her lungs like it might be her last chance to ever inhale oxygen, ever again.

Then Howard ran. He bolted for the exit, taking the flashlight with him. Although the light hadn't helped her vision at all, it had given her the slightest bit of comfort. And now it had departed.

With the flashlight gone, she could see the faint green glow from the walls. Darkness behind. The Darkness ahead. Lana closed her eyes tight, but somehow the green glow penetrated her eyelids, as though it could shine right through her flesh, right through the bone of her skull.

She could go no farther. She sank to her knees.

Close enough. It was there, just ahead, just around that last bend, a moving, sliding, grinding pile of glowing rock.

The soundless voice was a cudgel slammer her head. The Darkness thrust invisible fingers of ice into her mind, and Lana knew that she herself was speaking its words.

'The healer,' she cried in a tortured, maniac parody of her own voice.

She kept her eyes shut, but she could still feel Drake kneeling beside her.

'Why do you come to me?' Lana cried, a puppet, nothing but a tool for the Darkness to use.

'The coyote…' Drake managed.

'Faithful Pack Leader,' the Darkness said through Lana. 'Obedient, but not yet equal to a human.'

Open your eyes, Lana told herself. Be brave. Be brave. See it, face it, fight it. But the darkness was in her skull, pushing and prodding, peeking inside her secrets, laughing at her pathetic, weak attempt of resistance.

And yet she opened her eyes. A lifelong habit of defiance gave her strength. But she kept her eyes cast down, strong enough to force them open, too terrified to look at the face of the horrid monster itself.

The rocks under her knees glowed.

She was touching it, touching the hem of it.

Pack Leader groveled, lowering himself to the ground of the cave beside Lana, crawling on his belly.

Suddenly, Lana felt an electric shock of terrifying force. Her back arched, her head went back, her arms flew wide.

A pain like an icicle stabbing her eye and searing her brain.

She tried to scream, but no sound would come out.

Then it was gone and she fell onto her back, legs folded beneath her. She gasped fiercely like a landed fish, unable to fill her lungs.

'Defiance,' she croaked in a voice not her own. How she was able to let words escape her mouth, when she didn't have any air left to devour, she was not sure of.

'She is with me,' Drake said. 'If you kill her, Caine will kill me.'

'You are bold to make demands,' the Darkness said through Lana.

'I'm not… It's… She's a healer, and we need her alive,' Drake shouted raggedly.

Lana suddenly found she could breathe again. She sucked in drags of the beautiful oxygen. She pushed out against the turf, scooted inch by inch away from the Darkness.

Drake shrieked in agony and she turned around to spot him on the ground as she had been, like he'd grabbed a power line. His body jerked like a marionette.

The Darkness released him.

'Ah,' The Darkness said, and twisted Lana's mouth into an evil rictus. 'I have found a much better teacher for you, Pack Leader.'

Pack Leader was back up on his feet, but kept his head and tail aligned. He glanced at Drake, who had now been released, but was lying on the ground, pain slowly decreasing, just like it had with her.

'This human will teach you to kill other humans,' Lana said, finally able to speak her own words, the Darkness fingers slowly retreating from her head.

'Yes, I will,' Drake agreed, getting up on his feet. So did Lana, but she didn't wait for him as she strolled off.

She felt fury building up in her and she needed to get out. She needed space. She needed peace. She needed Patrick by her side, seeing him wag his tail in a silly manner.

Yes, she would still go to Coates with Drake. She had heard what he had said about Caine killing him otherwise. Drake would never give up without a fight. God, he'd _never_ give up, he will fight until he dies if he has to! She now knew that she didn't get to chose if she wanted to go back to Perdido Beach or not. All she had done was care for a wounded boy, and now she was permanently trapped.

* * *

Drake paced back up the mineshaft after Lana. As he got closer to the entrance he could feel the hot California air returning and the faint light of the dawn appearing in view.

As he exited the mine he looked around hoping that Lana hadn't gotten too much of a head start on her escape route. What surprised him was that she hadn't run off. She was standing about 50 feet away, her back turned at him with her Golden Labrador -he still hadn't cared to learn the name of- next to her.

He made his way towards her, but her voice stopped him in his tracks a couple feet behind her.

'You should start listening to what I have to say. I told you that it wasn't a good idea to go here, but you just _had_ to be so insistent! Could you at least _try_ and show some respect to the girl that healed you? I should have just let your arm get sawed off! You deserve all the pain you get!' her back was still turned, but her voice was loud enough for him to hear everything clearly. She was really upset about the torture that the Darkness had given her. He had only felt it for a couple of seconds, and he was sure he'd become permanently scarred, even if he wouldn't admit it to anyone, ever.

He walked on, and stopped when he was standing right in front of her. Hesitantly, very hesitantly, he gave her his gun. She grasped it roughly, staring at it with a grim expression. He had thought this would make her forgive him, trust him. Obviously the trick Caine used to play on Drake didn't work the same way with other people who weren't sadists.

Lana looked up from the gun, her eyes meeting Drake's. For the first time since he had met her she seemed completely vulnerable, defeated.

'You deserve all you get,' she repeated weakly, her eyes watery. She was trying to certain degrees to contain her anger, her sadness. He looked at her, his expressions, his feelings, a twist of shock and awe. Finally there was someone standing up against him, without having some kind of power over him. Except for the fact that she held a gun, though somehow he just knew that she wouldn't use it. Not on him, anyways.

Then he did the unexpected thing; he reached his right hand out to her, brushing his fingers down the side of her cheek. She just stood there, staring at him foolishly.

In one swift movement his hand cupped her head and pulled her forward until their lips met. Drake was sure that even the coyotes -that had just retreated from the cave 50 feet away from them- could hear the clack sound the impact of their teeth made as his weak attempt of a kiss had happened.

The kiss was over before it even started. They had both pulled away at the same time. Lana mimicked the look of a deer caught in the headlights, perfectly. Drake wasn't much better. He looked stunned, then angry when he suddenly realized that _he_ had kissed _her_! He was fuming on the inside. It was such an intense anger he was sure that steam was exiting his ears. And then…

_Smack_!

Lana stood there shocked, her head slowly twisted back to the former position, facing him. She slowly raced her hand to meet her cheek that was turning a red color. Not from anger. Not from embarrassment. Drake's anger decreased the slightest at the sight of her freshly slapped face.

Then he turned on his heal and swaggered off towards the coyotes. What a great way to start of the new day!

* * *

**Well, that certainly escalated quickly! So… That was my weak attempt at a cliffhanger! Hope you guys liked it? I'll try as hard as possible to make Drake even more badass and violent. Please review!**


	5. Conflict & Strife

**Thanks to Goneismyfave1 and Gaia Ladris-Soren for reviewing again, love you guys SO much! **

**So this chapter is boring like hell, especially considering what happened last week. **

**Now there won't be a new chapter until next week, because I'm going to Austria (ditching school, such a badass, Lady Badass, LOL) and I'm abandoning my laptop at home. I have the next chapter planned out in my head though, so maybe I'll write a sketch of it in my notebook? Neh ….**

**I also have to mention that I'm actually editing a story I wrote for a mock-exam before Christmas (got an A on it, YAY! Big deal considering me being a person that doesn't give a shit about school) and I'm planning on posting it at **_**fictionpress**_** when I'm done. I'll update you guys on that when the time comes, though!**

* * *

THE TOUCH OF A HEALER

Diana was about to reply Caine with a snarky comment that contained a good dose of her sarcastic, mean thoughts when she heard a rushing sound behind her. She spun around, to greet a wave, a swarm of rough, shaggy yellow beasts. The coyotes seemed to come form everywhere at once, a disciplined, purposeful invasion that would quickly overwhelm her and Caine.

Caine raised his hands, palms out, armed and ready.

'No,' a voice yelled, 'Don't hurt them, they're friends.'

It was Howard, marching up towards them, waving his hands. Behind him came the healer girl, Lana, looking shell-shocked and scared to death.

And behind them, Drake.

Diana cursed. He was still alive. She had hoped that Sam had spotted him when he'd gone down to town to get Lana. It was pretty likely; after all he had been gone for almost a day now.

Howard came rushing up first. 'Has Orc shown up here?' Diana wasn't paying any attention to him, and she doubted that Caine did either.

He seemed to pick up on a conversation with Drake about him doing a great job about persuading the Healer so quickly. Drake sent him a proud shark grin. Diana's brows furrowed as she noticed him glancing over at Lana, his smirk flickering. No one else had noticed, his proud expression had reappeared almost before it had disappeared in the first place.

Diana glanced over at Lana, wondering how he had managed it. She didn't seem like the person that would be brainwashed easily. Had he used force?

She looked her up and down. Lana's clothes were filthy. Her jeans had been ripped multiple places in a way that did not make it look fashionable. The long, wavy, chestnut colored hair on her head was now tangled, matted and scraggly. Red marks were climbing their way up her arms, and her palms seemed uncomfortably sore.

Still, it did not seem like Drake had hurt her. If he'd start on the process of hurting someone, he wouldn't be fine stopping with only some slightly red marks exposed from the skin.

Diana realized that she was still staring at Lana, which Lana had noticed by now and was looking back with an empty look on her face. She didn't really seem focused on Diana, although her look at the same time tore through her.

Diana noticed how her eyes were hollowed out with dark rings underneath and her face was smeared with dirt. She also noticed how once in a while Lana would break the eye contact and glance over at Drake for a quick couple of seconds.

This somehow bothered Diana a lot and her eyebrows furrowed into an even bigger frown then what it already was. The atmosphere had gotten even weirder since the group had arrived and she didn't get what was up with either of them.

She slowly figured that Lana most likely wouldn't open up with the others around –hell, would she even open up if they were by themselves?

'Lana,' Diana said, making Caine shut up -midsentence in his detailed update on how to take over Perdido Beach once and for all. All attention was turned towards her, except for Lana's who was still looking at her, but still seemed annoyingly unfocused. 'How about you come with me, and we'll get you cleaned up, okay?'

A smile appeared on Caine's face. It was one of his rare, real ones that he'd save up for Diana and Diana only. He was obviously happy about Diana being 'enthusiastic' about gathering useful people. Of course she was doing it for her own reasons, but still, it made Caine love her even more, and his protection was all that mattered to her.

* * *

As Lana stalked off after Diana, Drake sent her a death glare, making sure she saw it. It was important that she understood who was the real leader. She might be on Caine's side now, but Drake owned her.

It was also important to show her that the kiss – was that even the right word? Interaction maybe? It was just a peck after all – It meant nothing. If she told Diana about it though, he'd make sure to bust her brains out of her head.

He watched her stride behind Diana. Diana with her overly confident aura. She was all talk. No courage, no muscles, no guts, just looks that would make the weak ones – such as Caine – let themselves be controlled.

Lana on the other hand, she was brave and strong both physically and mentally. She had proven that to Drake by now. And she didn't seem like the girl to take control over somebody else. No, but somehow she had still managed taking control of his thoughts.

Since his fucking hormones had acted out, he couldn't get her out of his thoughts. In the beginning it had just been the regular thoughts.

He'd imagine her locked up, body covered up in bruises, splattered with blood. Her low whimpering as he kicked her in the stomach, pushed her onto the ground, pulled her by the hair, threw her across the room. And then for just a nanosecond, he'd imagine her body clean of damage. His hand running up her waist, her hazel eyes staring into his stormy grey ones as she slowly leaned in to close the gap in between them. And he'd lean in as well and close his eyes as they were just a few inches apart...

'Drake?' he heard a voice say repeatedly. It was close, still so far away as he was caught up in his own imagination. He pulled himself out of his thoughts to meet Caine's confused face. They were standing at campus of their previous school, surrounded by the disgusting, ugly creatures.

Drake looked at him distantly, silently questioning if Caine could repeat himself.

'You should probably go get cleaned up,' Caine said, nodding at his clothes. This dragged Drake out of his thoughts completely as he looked down at his pants with a panicked expression.

Drake was revealed to see that he was urine free. Caine must have been referring to the dirt that was covering Drake as well. Although the dirt made him seem like so much more of a badass, he decided he'd hit the showers and then go to sleep.

* * *

As Drake lay on his bed, hands behind his head waiting for sleep to take over, Lana entered his thoughts again.

An annoyed sigh exited his lips as he thought of her. Every time he thought about the girl, he just felt like such a weak person! He always hated when Caine was distracted by Diana, his power going to waste because he claimed to be 'in love'.

But Drake wasn't going to be part of a silly puppy love relationship. Who was he kidding?! He wasn't going to be part of _any_ kind of relationship! Except for the one he had with his gun. This thought brought a smile to his lips. Oh yeah, the gun was definitely an acceptable partner.

He could almost hear Diana's stupid laughter, as she'd comment something such as 'Did you chose to become an objectophile after you got frightened of exiting the closet, or are you seriously just pathetic?'

Diana had never said this to him – Caine's power wouldn't be strong enough to hold him back from hurting Diana after a comment like that – but it seemed like something she would say, and the worst thing was that it was kind of true.

Drake didn't want to be pathetic, but a girlfriend was the last thing he needed. Nobody would take the big, bad sadist seriously if he'd beat the crap out of a couple of kids, next go making out with his girlfriend. It just didn't fit to his image.

He'd just have to let his thoughts slide, but that was pretty hard when Lana was staying with them. Caine wouldn't want her to leave, and he'd order Drake to make ups Lana's mind for her.

Suddenly a memory appeared in his head, a memory from just a couple hours earlier. The memory of their kiss. It was a rushed, weak and pathetic attempt at a kiss, and even though Drake would _never _admit it to _anyone_; he had felt something. It was a tiny dose of pleasure. Then he had smacked her, ruining every romantic fiber that might have been in the air and adding portion upon portion of _real_ pleasure.

Yeah, he thought to himself grinning wildly, he definitely preferred the joy he got from applying pain to someone. Another picture entered his head, of Lana lying on the ground broken bones, blood splattered onto the ground around her. Too much pain for her to heal at once and as she healed a slash on her back – the parts she could reach – he would just carve another appealing wound upon her unhealthily pail skin.

The grin was still plastered onto his face as the nightmares – which he considered beautiful dreams – followed him to sleep.

* * *

**Sorry for the boring chapter (and pathetic ending, omg...), but it is necessary to have one of those once in a while. Like I said at the beginning though, it will not come another chapter until next week, but I'll focus on thinking out the plot of the next chapter while I'm away so that I can type it down as quick as possible.**

**And if you liked/disliked the chapter: Please review your thoughts! **


	6. Encountering Violence

**So this chapter was supposed to be up by Monday, but I have been so picky on this sucky chapter, and feeling like the story suddenly isn't going anywhere. Also the autocorrect is fucking with me and is now constantly set in Norwegian, no matter how many times I've tried to change it. Considering I desperately want at least one positive thing about this chapter, I spent a lot of time correcting myself.**

THE TOUCH OF A HEALER

A soft moan escaped Lanas lips as her eyelids slowly slid open to greet the sunny daylight. This had been her first proper night of sleep since she was sent to her grandfathers place.

She sat up rather swiftly from the uncomfortable bed and rubbed sleep out of her eyes, blinking a couple of times. Her head turned in mulitple directions as she adopted her surroundings.

At first she had no idea what she was doing there in an uncomfortable bed placed in a narrow room with another identical bunk next to it. One window, two doors, one sligtly open to expose the bathroom.

Quickly she glanced towards the other door like someone would notice her doing so – the only other 'person' in the room was Patrick, curled up on the bed next to her feet. Seeing the door made the word _escape _pop into herhead and slowly the memories – of her taking sides with the psycopathic kids from Coates – came rushing back to her.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed and got up. A soft thump behind her signalised that so did Patrick.

Her bare feet tapped lightly against the cold tiles as she passed the other bed – which was empty – and entered the cramped bathroom that was conected to the bedrom.

Lana ran her thingers through her hair staring at her reflection in the mirror. It was wavy and shiny, just like it used to. She was wearing plain, black leggins and a dark purple tank top. Neither of the clothing belonged to her – she would never have been able to fit into such a slim piece of clothing before the FAYZ – but she guessed it was donated by Diana the day before, hadn't she taken her in? Talked to her about someting? She couldn't remember clearly. Her mind had been occupied with the thoughts of taking a hot shower and going to bed.

Usually, you'd find Lana wearing a lot of makeup. Not to look slutty, but to fit the whole though-chick thing. Now, without any makeup at all, she looked exhausted with dark rings under her eyes – although they were slowly fainting as she had slept in the previous night – and a plum colored mark was highly exposed right beneath her right eye.

'You can't run, Lana,' she said to herself, still staring at her petite reflection in the mirror. 'Not from this, anyways. Stay and fight, it is just a phase, after all.'

Drake had punished her, after _he_ kissed _her_. Who knew what would happen if she pulled a stunt such as running of? He'd hunt her down, there was no doubt about that. And then what? What would he do to her? Cement her feet, maybe? Then she wouldn't be able to go anywhere then, but able to heal whenever it was needed. That was the only reason they wanted her anyway.

The sound of a door close by being ripped open and shut loudly made Lana turn her head towards the sound instinctivly. One thing she had learned from the coyotes was to always be alert.

This sound – of a door being torn open and slammed shut – repeated itself over and over increasing more every time. She wasn't the only one noticing it as Patrick wagging his tail as he approached the door, Lana right behind him.

She opened her door to greet a familiar face that made chills run up and down her spine. Drake wasn't standing directly outside her door, more like 7 feet away to the left, statued to the ground in a walking posture facing her. This made it clear to her that he was the mysterious person who had made his way through the halls of the school making all of the noice, and her door was the next to be ripped open.

His face was puzzled, confused and greedy all at ones. It seemed like he was trying to find something, someone. And it seemed important. Like it depended on life and death.

'What are you looking for?' Lana asked looking him in the eye. He looked tense, but determined. As powerfull as always, almost making Lana shrink up. Almost.

'You,' he answered in a dark tone, his voice didn't show any emotion. His movements though, they were a whole other story.

Swiftly he moved forward to close the gap between them. Both of his hands cupped her head pulling her to him, only inches between them. She just stood there, staring up at his stormy grey eyes like some idiot, scared to do anything.

For a second –that felt more like hours – they just stood there, like that. Frozen. Staring into the eyes of one another. Awkwardly close, both not totally sure what was going on. Both wanting, both _needing_, yet neither wanted to take the initiative. Both wanting to pull away right away, but something keeping them like that.

Then Drake leaned forward and let his lips touch hers in an obsessive manner. Lana felt teeth on her lip, but not in the same way as last time. He was biting her lower lip, almost asking for permission and as she wasn't willing, he bit harder forcing her mouth open.

She felt his tongue enter her mouth, with out any intimasy. Without any passion. Without any kind of romantic emotions devoted to the kiss. Just Drake, being Drake, taking charge of her once again, in the most uncomfortable ways possible as his hands slowly slid down to her waist with a bit to rough grip on her hips.

Her palms were both against his chest, trying to fiercly push him away from her, after repeating this over and over he finally let her. They just stood there. 2 feet of space between them, breathing heavily and staring at eachother; both shocked, both trying to process what had repeated itself once again.

She noticed how the muscels in Drakes right upper arm and shoulder flexed as it slowly found it's way backwards only by inches.

Lana remembered the previous slap; an openpalmed slap, but somehow it had hurt like _crazy_. Mentally it had been even worse, not as bad as the Darkness, but pretty bad. He had left her feeling week and powerless. Defeated. She wasn't going to let him push her around like that. And then...

_Smack_!

Both Drake and Lanas eyes windened as they realised that _Lana_ had slapped him. It wasn't one of those steady stikes that Drake was so good at performing. No, only the tip of her thingers had made an impact onto his cheek, barely leavin a red trail. That didn't matter though, because she had stood up against him, and that in itself was enough to push him over the edge.

Drake reached out with his hand and his thingers smoothly closed around her hair. She stumbled on the floor as he rapidly dragged her towards him, then pushing her away with enough force to make her fall down onto the hard ground.

Lana stayed there on the floor. She wanted so badly to show him her inner strength, but it obviously didn't end well when she did.

He made his way towards her, for a couple of seconds he stood howering above her, staring deeply into her eyes with an indifferent face. Then he kicked her in the side. Once, twice. She heard a loud crack from the impact the tip of his shoe had made against her side. A low moan of pain escaped her, her sight turned blury as her eyes filled with salty water.

She rolled over onto her unharmed side, her back turned at him, wishing for him to show the slightes mercy, to stop.

He didn't. Another forcefull kick, this one against her torso causing her back arch and her yielding out from the feeling of the agonizing pain.

The scream tore through the room, out into the hallways of the empty school. All she could do was hope for someone to hear it. To care.

Patrick barked, but did not charge at Drake. He was a to well behaved dog to do that.

Her back burned like hell and her arms were shivering frantically. She knew very well that she could heal herself, but only if she got the chance, if Drake would let her. So until then she would just have to cope with the pain, just like anyone else would have to do. Though people usually didn't go through this kind of shit, did they?

As more tears appeared in the corner of her eyes, sweat seaping down her front head, she waited for Drake to kick once again. He didn't.

She turned her head the slightest peeking over her shoulder. Drake was standing standing in the door way, skewed, from her position on the ground. He was staring at her intensly, like he was trying to figure out why she was just lying there, crying, not fighting back. Was it possible that he might enjoy fighting her? Not only beating on her, but seeing her fight back?

'Oh, thanks for healing my arm by the way! It will make it a lot more productive to hit you if you… You know, misbehave?' He winked at her in an unsettling way as he exited the room, leaving Patrick as her only comfort.

**I'd like to say that another chapter will be up by Sunday, and I really want to, because this one was short and I havn't published anything in a week, but I can't promise anything. Sorry. But I will actually be more productive if more people step into Goneismyfave1's shoes and review, just like she always does. It makes my day so much better, and I will become more productive with updating!**


	7. Join The Rank

**I am so sorry for being the lazy person that I am for the past week. I'd love to come with some excuse on how I had so much homework that I chose to prioritize, but we barely had any at all, and what we had; I did not do. So I've just spent all my spare time writing yet another fanfiction story, were the main character is the person in GONE that I wished would die from the very first second! So you guys can just wonder who that is and spend your next couple of days full of curiosity before I publish the first chapter!**

**Also, next to that story, I published another story last week, which I'm working on as well, so hopefully some of you will take your time to read that as well.**

THE TOUCH OF A HEALER

Lana watched as the orange sun slowly made an impact with the mountains miles away at Trotter's Ridge, making an amazing, artful light of all sorts of warm colors flow across the sky.

She was lying in her bed and was staring out into the open. Since her interference with Drake earlier that same day, Lana hadn't dared leaving her room and she could now feel a pit in her stomach as hunger was taking over for real.

She hadn't eaten since she was at Elwoods house and when she got back to Coates the day before she had gone straight to bed.

Diana hadn't come to check on her. After all, she had told Lana to feel at home, which clearly meant that she was more then welcome to feed herself. Now, Lanas only hope was the desperate thought that Diana might be wondering were she was and would go get her.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips as her stomach rumbled for the hundredth time that same hour. As the sound of her impatient stomach lessened she could hear someone stomping loudly through the hallways.

Lana sat up abruptly as Drake entered the room, a frustrated look plastered onto his intimidating features.

Drake started pacing back and forth across her room, his brows furrowed, none of his attention directed at the terrified girl before him.

Lana watched him striding with alert eyes, not fully aware of what was going on. She slowly moved to get out of bed, but he didn't even notice that maneuver.

As she stood awkwardly before him she coughed lightly. Drakes head swiped in her direction, his eyes big seemingly like he hadn't acknowledged her presence up until that very moment. Slowly he turned his head away from her, staring intensely into the clearance.

'We're gonna lose…' he mumbled looking away. Lana surprised Drake would ever come with such a statement. 'Caine has no fucking idea what he's doing. He's just a power-mad jerk with a huge ego, and thanks to that; we'll lose.'

She stared at him, taken aback and having a hard time processing what he had just said. It was like a weight had been taken of her shoulders, the reassurance that she might soon enough be free again. She might be getting out of the hellhole. Was that what she wanted? Of course it was! Why would she ever want to be stuck in a place like that with _Drake_.

Lana jumped as he kicked the visitor chair in the tiny room with enough force to tilt it over, after making an impact with the work desk sitting in the corner next to it.

Drake made his way over to the chair and picked it up from it's lying position on the ground, lifting it above his head and throwing it onto the ground. Bending down and repeating this procedure over and over.

Lana backed up, bumping into her bed and sitting down onto it.

God, her desire to run away was just too strong! But from just the short period of time that she had known Drake, she knew very well that he would catch her. And considering what he'd do on a good day, she didn't want to think of what would happen to her if she tried escaping on a day like this. He'd probably be ripped apart, as simple as picking eyebrows. She shuddered at the thought.

After what felt like forever, Drake turned his attention back to Lana.

He was panting, his shoulders and upper body raising and sinking as he took another deep breath.

Lana looked at him not sure if he was now done wasting his energy, or if he had stopped because both the chair and the desk were now completely trashed and demolished.

Drake moved, which at first scared the crap out of her, thinking that it was her turn to be completely wrecked. But he didn't come for her, instead he walked towards the door and stopped on the other side of it, turning his head to look at her over his shoulder.

'Are you coming?' he said. More of a demand, rather then a question.

She got up and followed him obediently out into the corridor, not sure where they were going or what was going on.

Not a word was spoken as they walked through the empty corridors. The silence wasn't the awkward kind. They were just two teenagers who preferred not to speak. What did they have to speak of anyways? What did they have in common? The fact that they both favored being left alone, Lana noted.

Not like that information would be useful in any kind of way, just that it was interesting.

Everyone had always seemed to judge her. Judge her because she was the girl who chose spending time with her dog at home, rather then going shopping with girls that she couldn't stand, rather then going to parties with people that she hated.

People were intolerable. Patrick never criticized her. He never told her what she could and could not do. Patrick gave her freedom and company all at once. All that she could ever ask for. She'd just wish that he was her warrior as well.

She wished that he would protect her from Drake, the way he had with the mountain lion. But somehow Patrick wasn't intimidated by Drake. Maybe that was for the better? She didn't want the psychotic teenage boy to make the threats reality. She knew very well that he wouldn't have anything against killing her loyal dog.

So she'd either have to put up with all of Drakes crap, or be her own warrior. The solution to her problem wasn't clear to her yet.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips and Drake cast a glance in her direction. They kept walking, but he was still watching her closely.

'Pretty boring here, right?' His dark expression lit up into a beaming smirk. 'Soon enough, there will be so much action, all you'll want is to run of.'

'That's all I've wanted for a very long time...' She mumbled under her breath. She wasn't sure if she had wanted him to hear it or not. Anyhow, he did. He looked amused by her reply, but didn't comment further. Instead he turned his attention back to nowhere in particular as they kept on walking.

God, this school was enormous!

She felt exhausted from the walking, thanks to the lack of food. She was about to ask if they were there yet, but didn't feel like giving Drake the advantage. He'd already overpowered her on so many levels. Physically and mentally. He was playing with her.

Did he know? Did he know how much it bothered her? Was that his intention, to lock her in a room and make her crave his company? Make her willing to be beaten up, as long as it meant him being there? He trashed her because he was a sadist. He enjoyed it, that much she had figured as he laughed while striking her over and over.

She glanced over at him, staring intensely into the back of his scull. Trying so desperately to figure out what was going on in that dark mind of his.

**-Switch-**

It was so annoying. The fact that Caine kept sending him of all people to get Lana. To speak with her. Get to know her. It hadn't gone that well, so far, which had pissed Caine of, annoying Drake further.

He kept saying that Diana was so devoted to everything going on, volunteering to take care of Lana, when it really was Drakes job. Stupid Caine, never looking past her fake, barbie features.

She treated him like crap, and Caine put up with all of it! But when Diana finally came with a comment that owned the least bit of sense to it, he wouldn't listen. Eventually, Diana had figured out that their side was the weakest. That there were too many angry freaks out there, craving revenge on the Coates trio, and that they were all doomed. But when she tried telling him so, he wouldn't listen!

And then he had suddenly just exposed the whole truth to Lana. He had showed her vulnerability.

She had no idea how lucky she was. First of all, if they did loose, which he knew they would, she would still be just as respected, if not more. She could tell everyone how she had been taken a prisoner at Coates and she'd be allowed to stay in town. Second of all, if her personality had been the slightest bit different, Drake would have bashed her teeth out after he had showed weakness.

But he didn't. Why? What was it about her that made him hesitate on doing so, ruining the schools furniture instead?

Not knowing drove him mad, but he didn't get how having the answer to this would make it any better. She was an obstacle in his daily life. Distracting him every now-and-then, entering his mind, making him distant and slow-thinking.

He took a final turn to the left and they went down a fair set of stairs, leading to the cafeteria.

It was empty and trashed. After everyone had disappeared, the cafeteria was still a very popular place to meet up. That was until it got wrecked by Andrew, when Drake had tied him up -ordered to do so by Caine, but performing deliberately- on his birthday.

He turned his head slightly to find Lana staring. Not at the chaotic room, but at him. Her brows were furrowed, like she was thinking deeply and when he turned his attention at her, she didn't react. She kept staring at him like if his head was still turned in the other direction.

He found it sort of unsettling, but decided not to do anything about it. For now.

He turned his head back into its normal position and opened a narrow door, entering the big kitchen were all the lunch ladies used to work until they 'poofed' with the rest of the adults.

Lana was following him, but keeping her distance. Probably scared after what had happened between them only a couple of hours earlier. It all seemed so weird. He had met her only three days earlier, and so much had happened since then.

He ripped the door to the walk-in-fridge, entering the cold room. The small space, dim lighting and chilly aura reminded him just the slightest of the Darkness. After a brief minute, he stepped out again, carrying sandwiches and orange juice.

Lana was still standing meters away from him as he devoured a sandwich in two bites and took a carton of juice for himself. He found it very annoying that she was just standing there, watching him eat.

'Is that an invitation for me to eat it all? Or are you actually planning on getting some nutrition today?' he asked after digging in on another sandwich. His voice was bored, with a hint of aggression to it, making her stand there for a couple more seconds. She considered his offer with a doubtful aspect, before moving forward and snatching two sandwiches of the table and retreating to her corner. She reached her hand out to Patrick and let him have one of them, saving the other one for herself.

They ate in silence. They seemed to be doing a lot of that, but he didn't bother to make conversation.

A couple of sandwiches later they withdrew from the gigantic canteen, walking through a set of other stairs and halls. Drake was surprised with himself for remembering all the different passages in the school.

Soon enough they reached out to the front door, which Drake opened, walked through and let it close behind him. He did not care about the fact that the door slammed close in Lanas face. Just another way for Drake to show her that he owned her.

Outside, there was a parked SUV, circled up by a group of smelly, scruffy creatures. He hated them, but at the same time, he 'loved' them. He knew they were his, in one way or another. And they would help him kill.

'Drake,' a familiar voice greeted. His full attention turned towards the boy that had just gotten out of the car. The only person that could ever overpower him. Caine.

Drake only nodded as an acknowledgment.

'Are you guys ready?' Caine asked, smiling sickly. Not at Drake, but over his shoulder. He turned to find Lana standing right behind him.

'Ready for what?' Lana said, looking up at Drake. She was turning to him, instead of Caine. So she had gotten the message. Caine might own Drake, but that did not mean that he owned Lana. She was Drakes and Drakes only. Just like the coyotes.

'It is Caines birthday today,' he answered cheerily, a malevolent glint in his eyes. 'And we are going to pay the townies a little visit.'

**So I'm sorry that the chapter is yet another filler, especially since I haven't updated in a while. Hope it was still a decent chapter and well enough to read!**

**Thank you Goneismyfave1 and Fanficsyaaay for reviewing! Nice to know that at least you two enjoy reading my story! ****To the rest of you; please review, it means SO much to me!**


	8. Altered State

THE TOUCH OF A HEALER

Diana took in her surroundings as she got out of the SUV.

A huge building, surrounded by a sea of pavement and dried grass.

The school. Not Coates Academy -_nothing _close to Coates Academy- but the public school. The one that Sam and the rest of the townies had gone to before the adults had disappeared. It was probably the one building inside the dome, that had been left completely deserted from all civilization since that day.

The others had already stalked of towards the main entrance, completely forgetting about her.

Caine in the lead -of course. Howard and Mallet right behind him, trying to leave the talking Chuck behind to bother someone else. He was about to brag about some concert he'd been to in the UK to Panda and Frederico, but they departed as soon as they reached the building, baring baseball bats and guns. A couple feet of to the side and behind the others was Drake and Lana. They were walking beside each other, with only a foot or so of space in between them.

Diana had decided to keep an eye on both of them, since they arrived at Coates the day before with the coyote pack, which were now roaming the streets of the town, waiting for further orders.

Lana and Drake were both messed up, there was no doubt about that. Still, that one similarity wasn't enough to turn them into a perfect match. It didn't matter _how _messed up they both were. They were both two lost, abandoned teenagers, but they both preferred being alone. They didn't need anyone. Still they had found each other. Diana could see it. Barely visible, still, there was something there.

She had questioned Lana about it the day before.

Taking her in and letting her borrow clean clothing and a bed. And when she asked the simplest of questions to Lana, she was completely ignored. So she let Lana go to sleep and when she was on her way back the next morning to ask her again, Caine told her not to.

Caine said that it was Drake who had taken Lana in and she was his responsibility. She hadn't considered telling Caine about her suspicions for even just a second. He would get the honor of figuring it out on his own, just like she had. But Caine only noticed what he wanted to notice. He might already have figured out about it, but knowing that nothing -no _one_- could change Drakes sadistic tendencies and disturbed mind, Lana wouldn't be a problem at all. _  
_

Dianas eyes shifted in between the two of them.

Lana looked shaken up and at unease. Of him, yes, but of something else as well. Something bigger. And it was almost as if she was turning towards Drake for savior.

Drake looked nervous himself, but also excited. Like someone before an exam they have practiced well for. Looking forward to showing of how smart they really are, at the same time agitated from the thought that they'd answer something wrong.

Too Diana, Lana remained a disturbing mystery. Not just because she couldn't figure out how on earth someone could possibly _like_ Drake. It was just the way that she would stare at nothing and you'd shrink back, feeling the anxiety building up inside of you, almost as if she was sharing a piece of her darkness with you.

And as always, Lana was staring out into the open space again, not noticing that Drake kept glancing over at her. The looks seemed so hollowed out and sad, it was impossible for her to believe that the expression belonged to Drake.

What _the hell _was going on?!

The cold embraced them as soon as they exited the back of the school. They kept walking down a narrow road and entered a small house through an open window in the back. The house was empty, to Dianas relief, as she really didn't want to see Drake in action.

The posse of teenagers gathered in the dark living room. It was a limited amount of space, but everyone had a seat to sit in as they waited for an update from Bug on what was going on with Sam.

'Time to leave soon, or what, Drake?' Caine said, smiling cheerfully. Nothing seemed to get him down at the moment.

'In a second,' Drake grumbled, getting up from his seat and motioning for Lana to the same. She obeyed and together they walked towards another door, entering the room and making sure to close the door behind them.

* * *

'Only a couple hours left, and you'll be free again,' Drake said, staring out of the window in the cramped bedroom. Lana felt like she heard pity in his voice. Sadness.

'You really do believe that you're gonna lose,' she noted, focusing her eyes on him for a change.

She was standing close to the door. Patrick had stayed in the living room with everyone else, and being close to the door made her feel safer. It would be easier to escape if he decided to attack her.

'Who wouldn't? Everyone has the slightest feeling that this is getting out of hand. _Caine_ is getting out of hand!' he replied in rage. His voice was loud, and Lana was convinced that the others could hear him on the other side. At least if they were quiet. 'If it hadn't been for his enormous ego, we might have won this war.'

Lanas legs were put on automatic as she moved over to the window were Drake was standing. His head turned in her direction. Staring deeply into her eyes with a cold glare. She didn't react the slightest to his expression as he did so, she was used to him acting like that by now. She knew how risky it was of her, but somehow she became utterly ignorant when he was around.

'If you had been on the _right _side, you would have won this war,' she stated through a strong hiss, glaring daggers at him with a fiery passion.

He looked at her like she was stupid. Was she? She kept standing up against him like that, coming with stupid comments and all. And committing stupid actions.

Her head jolted as his closed fist made a rough impact with her chin.

Her head turned back in the right direction, not returning the favor at him, just kept staring into his eyes. It was almost like she was tearing at his soul as she did so. That, or the Darkness was just really pissed of at that moment.

She was used to him pushing her around like that, and she kept standing up against him. Not like it ever helped. Actually, it was very unproductive.

For once, she didn't feel like fighting it. For once, she just wanted to tolerate his possessive ownership of her. For once.

She remembered her stupid mother once telling her that _true __happiness can exist only in acceptance_.

Maybe that was true? Maybe if she just let her guard down and allowed Drake to take charge of her, she would get rid of that constant stress. That constant pain that she felt from the Darkness.

Without even noticing, she had slowly closed up the small gap between them. Drake surely noticed though, as he looked at her as if she was mad.

'If you were on the _right_ side, people might learn to appreciate you more,' she said simply.

Even now that she knew what she was doing, she kept going and when their lips embraced, neither of them pulled back.

Drake was taken aback at her sudden change of heart.

Not that it was any dramatic, intimate, make-out scene.

No arms wrapped around his neck. No tongues entering each others mouthes. No bodies grinding against one another.

Just her hands resting neatly on his shoulder. Her lips moving in tact with his, two pieces fitting perfectly together. Lost and found in this hell hole. He had a soft grip around her waist, a lot gentler then how he'd held her through their previous kiss.

As they made the kiss last, their eyes slowly closing as it continued more passionately, they both felt a somewhat remorse, thinking of how _this _would have been a more "perfect" first-kiss, rather then the two before.

At last they pulled away, inhaling the other ones exhale of CO2 as their front heads rested against each other.

'I don't want appreciation,' he said, staring into her eyes warningly. 'I want respect.'

And with that sentence hanging in the air; he pulled away completely, letting her arms drop to her sides as his shoulders were out of reach. Storming for the door and slamming it shut behind him, although Lana was going to exit the room as well. Leaving her alone in the darkness as he went out to fight. As he went out to kill the people that Lana was silently supporting.

And for some reason; she put up with it.

* * *

**Sorry for not updating for so long and sorry for writing both Lana and Drake so much out of character. Drake is going to be more sadistic through the next couple of chapters, but can't promise anything with Lana. Will try and publish another chapter next week!**


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